Vandiver dropped out of high school and never attended college or obtained a graduate degree, although he attended some graduate lectures at the University of Pennsylvania while working as a customshouse broker for his father's firm. He learned mathematics primarily by solving, and later writing, American Mathematical Monthly problems. He developed an impressive publication record in the Monthly, even collaborating with G.D. Birkhoff.

Postcard from H. Hasse to H.S. Vandiver, with mathematical notes from Vandiver 1928. (Click to enlarge.)Source: The H.S. Vandiver Papers at the Archives of American Mathematics.

The AAM's archival assistant Nikki Thomas rehoused the papers and photographs into archival-quality folders and boxes, and removed paper clips and staples to ensure the documents' continued preservation. In addition, Thomas created a more detailed inventory of the papers that will assist our researchers in accessing this extensive collection. The preservation and cataloguing work completed on this collection will ensure that it is available to our researchers for many years to come.

Kristy Sorensen served as the archivist at the Archives of American Mathematics until November 2006.